Sunday, January 5, 2014

Winter Storm Has Arrived

Yesterday was a balmy 40°.  The boys were able to work outside and do lots of chain saw work and general clean-up.  We woke this morning to about 20° and 3  inches of very fine  snow and lots of wind.  Now at 12:06 PM is is 13° and the last time I measured snow at 9 AM, we had 5 inches.  It has snowed non-stop since  and all our tracks are gone.

I milked both cows and we left them  locked in with their babies and shelter.  I don't worry about the beef cows but I do worry about teats freezing  on the dairy cows, especially the Jersey heifer.  DH drove the truck back and forth and cut a nice swath for me from the house to the milk barn.

I am cooking a pot of white beans with a  large ham bone.  I have cornbread in the oven and will be wilting lettuce to go with it.  I have two pie crusts thawing....may do a blackberry cobbler later this afternoon.

We bought DH  a new porch swing for Christmas.  The other one was getting very old and had collapsed  when too many guest sat on it.  I had the boys put it together yesterday before they left.  It is made of cypress.  I will probably stain it rather than letting it age slowly. 

This is before the storm:



and this was taken this morning,



I have feeders up on the porch and the birds are flocking to them this morning, 



General snow pictures,


It was way past my ankles.  My pants were covered with frozen snow so I had to change when  I came in.




Tonight will be our coldest night, -8 with a wind chill of -40.  That will set a record for us!

17 comments:

  1. That storm (Ion) is reaching all the way up to us today and temps after it passes will be in NEG double digits, not counting wind chill. I'm afraid we're going to get rain/snow/rain/snow so it should be a real mess by the time the deep freeze sets in. The beans/ham sounds good! Stay warm.

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    1. The ham and beans were good!

      Wow, you are sure getting your share of winter weather. Hopefully this storm will be gone by Wednesday and it will be 50° by Friday. Crazy.

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  2. We managed to miss a LOT of it; didn't start snowing here unitl aroud 7am and it's just a few inches. It's the temps I'm worried about. Extra bedding & even opened up the barn for the mule & mini-horse. Not that they'll go in there. The last ice storm they stood out there under a tree instead of coming inside. I really want to get a porch swing like that...maybe for spring though.

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    1. DH and I were just talking about how crazy animals can be. Even Sugar won't go into her very large dog house (actually a converted wooden crate). She is inside with us now.

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  3. Yikes, you folks aren't supposed to have this kind of weather!

    I have such fond memories of the porch swing at my grandparents' house. When I stayed with them, I could spend hours reading and swinging on it.

    Stay warm and put on higher boots when you go out! ;o}

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    1. If it gets beyond my boot tops, I won't be venturing outside. I wear my pants outside my boots so the snow will stay out of them.

      We do love the swing and use it a lot.

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  4. Brrr, those snow pictures and seeing your now covered foot and frozen pants bottoms, makes me glad I am right here, a.c. is on, barefoot, short sleeves and capri slacks. Although the weather is going to change tomorrow, a high of 80,but the low is predicted to be 40 and with the windchill factor feel like it is 28. So, I've got to bring the orchids in to a warmer area, everything else should be able to handle it, I hope. I better turn off the a.c. and let the warm air accumulate. :-)

    That porch swing looks comfortable and will really be nice when the weather is more compatible.

    Love and hugs Glenda, to you and your DH ~ FlowerLady

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    1. You weather sounds ideal right now.....we are -8 and should be getting very strong winds soon. High to be 4°

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  5. Wow, Glenda, we sure are getting wacky weather! We are experiencing the cold without the snow. Our record lows aren't as much of a departure from normal as yours. I hope you and the animals make it through safely. I also hope you are able to enjoy the porch swing soon. Oh, man! I am ready for spring!

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    1. The snow actually helps insulate everything in this extreme cold so I am grateful for it. We were -8 this morning.

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  6. Glenda,

    With all that heavy wind the snow we received last night pretty much blew away.
    Your snow I see is staying. Keep warm, and be safe. Temperatures are expected to be brutal in the early morning hours. We are at 14 now, dropping to 4, with wind it's going to feel like below zero.
    I love the pictures you took of the birds eating at the feeders by your window :-)
    Beautiful swing for your DH. This swing makes for a great place to sit with coffee when warm and the sunrise is rising in the morning, or even tea at night watching the sunset. Enjoy!!!

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  7. We hit -8 this morning but still no wind. DH says that is coming later today. I will not be going outside!

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  8. That is a very nice porch swing, I know because I bought one that's not as nice as yours! You will really enjoy it come spring... porch swings force us to sit down and slow down! Stay warm, your meal of cornbread, beans, ham and pies sounds cozy.

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  9. Four below this morning, colder yesterday. But at least today we're "over the hump" and expecting a "warming trend". Hubs and I don't have a need to be outside so we have "holed in". We'll get out tomorrow and go to the workout center though. I'll have to start all over, after all these days of general inactivity. I would worry about the milk cows and calves, too, one of the ag guys said on the news that everybody needs to get the cows into a barn if they can, and for sure the calves and their mamas. I heard the beef herd hollering, a couple of fields away, when I was outside briefly yesterday to dump the compost bucket. I don't think they have any milk cows or new calves though.

    That's a great looking porch swing. We always had one on the porch where I grew up, and I spent many hours in it.

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  10. I read your post out loud (except for the parts about the white beans and the porch swing) to He Who Mows and promised not to complain about a balmy 23º during the night ever again.

    Mama used to scratch out a little plot on the south side of a field terrace and plant lettuce in the winter and we would have wilted lettuce.

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    1. My Grandmother always planted a little patch of Black Seeded Simpson lettuce on Valentine's Day. I always want to do that but the weather never cooperates or I forget.

      We were near 70° yesterday, Jan 12!

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